Sonarr vs Radarr: What's the Difference?

Quick Verdict

Sonarr and Radarr are not competitors — they are complementary tools that handle different media types. Sonarr automates TV show management (series, seasons, episodes). Radarr automates movie management (individual films). If you watch both TV shows and movies, you want both. They share the same codebase origin, the same UI paradigm, and the same integration ecosystem. Think of them as two halves of a complete media automation stack.

Overview

Sonarr is an automated TV series management tool. It monitors for new episodes of shows you follow, searches indexers for releases, sends them to your download client, and organizes the files in your library. It tracks seasons, episodes, air dates, and quality profiles to keep your TV collection up to date without manual intervention.

Radarr does the same thing for movies. It started as a fork of Sonarr in 2017, adapted to handle films instead of episodic content. Instead of tracking seasons and episodes, Radarr manages individual movie files — monitoring for releases, grabbing the best quality available, and upgrading files when a better release appears.

Both projects use LinuxServer.io Docker images, integrate with the same indexers (via Prowlarr), and send downloads to the same clients (qBittorrent, Transmission, SABnzbd). The UI is nearly identical because they share the same codebase heritage. If you learn one, you already know the other.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Sonarr	Radarr
Media type	TV shows (series/seasons/episodes)	Movies (individual films)
Monitoring model	Tracks air dates, grabs new episodes automatically	Monitors for releases of wanted movies
Quality profiles	Per-series quality cutoffs and upgrades	Per-movie quality cutoffs and upgrades
Library organization	Show > Season > Episode folder structure	Flat or grouped-by-year movie folders
Rename templates	Episode naming with `{Series Title} - S{season:00}E{episode:00}`	Movie naming with `{Movie Title} ({Release Year})`
Calendar view	Episode air date calendar	Movie release date calendar (theatrical, digital, physical)
Season packs	Yes — can grab full season packs	N/A (single files per movie)
Series monitoring	Monitor all, future only, first season, latest season, or none	Monitor per-movie (on/off)
Lists integration	Import from Trakt, IMDb, or custom lists	Import from Trakt, IMDb, TMDb, or custom lists
Indexer integration	Via Prowlarr or direct indexer config	Via Prowlarr or direct indexer config
Download client support	qBittorrent, Transmission, Deluge, SABnzbd, NZBGet	qBittorrent, Transmission, Deluge, SABnzbd, NZBGet
API	Full REST API on port 8989	Full REST API on port 7878
Notification support	Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Discord, Telegram, email, webhooks	Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Discord, Telegram, email, webhooks
Docker image	`lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr`	`lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr`
Default port	8989	7878

Installation Complexity

The setup for both is nearly identical. Both use LinuxServer.io images with the same environment variables (PUID, PGID, TZ), the same volume mount pattern (/config, media path, downloads path), and the same restart policy.

Sonarr:

services:
  sonarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:4.0.16
    container_name: sonarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - sonarr_config:/config
      - /path/to/tv:/tv
      - /path/to/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "8989:8989"
    restart: unless-stopped

Radarr:

services:
  radarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:5.22.4
    container_name: radarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - radarr_config:/config
      - /path/to/movies:/movies
      - /path/to/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "7878:7878"
    restart: unless-stopped

The only differences are the image name, container name, media volume path, and port number. If you can set up one, you can set up the other in under two minutes. Both need the same post-install steps: connect a download client, add indexers (or connect Prowlarr), set quality profiles, and add media to monitor.

Complexity: Equal. Both are trivial single-container deployments with no database dependencies.

Performance and Resource Usage

Metric	Sonarr	Radarr
RAM (idle, small library)	~100-150 MB	~100-150 MB
RAM (large library, 500+ series)	~300-500 MB	~200-400 MB
CPU (idle)	Minimal	Minimal
CPU (RSS sync/indexer search)	Light spike during checks	Light spike during checks
Disk (config/database)	50-200 MB	50-200 MB
SQLite database	Yes (embedded)	Yes (embedded)

Sonarr can use slightly more memory with very large libraries because it tracks more granular data — every season and episode across hundreds of series generates more database entries than an equivalent number of movies. In practice, both are lightweight and will run comfortably on any hardware that can run Docker, including a Raspberry Pi 4.

Neither tool touches your media files during normal operation (outside of renaming/moving on import). The CPU cost comes from periodic RSS checks and indexer searches, which are brief and infrequent.

Community and Support

Metric	Sonarr	Radarr
GitHub stars	11k+	10k+
First release	2012 (as NzbDrone)	2017 (fork of Sonarr)
License	GPL-3.0	GPL-3.0
Development activity	Active, regular releases	Active, regular releases
Discord community	Yes (shared *arr Discord)	Yes (shared *arr Discord)
Reddit	r/sonarr	r/radarr
Documentation	wiki.servarr.com	wiki.servarr.com
v4/v5 rewrite	Sonarr v4 (current)	Radarr v5 (current)

Both projects share the same Servarr wiki and Discord server. The communities overlap heavily — most users run both tools. Bug reports and feature requests are handled on separate GitHub repos, but the development teams coordinate closely. If a major UI improvement lands in one, it typically makes its way to the other.

Use Cases

Choose Sonarr If…

You primarily watch TV shows and want new episodes grabbed automatically as they air
You want season pack support for catching up on older series
You need granular series monitoring (all seasons, latest only, first season only)
You follow ongoing series and want hands-off episode tracking
You want calendar-based air date monitoring

Choose Radarr If…

You primarily collect movies and want automated quality upgrades
You want to maintain a movie wishlist that auto-downloads when releases become available
You prefer browsing and adding movies from TMDb/IMDb/Trakt lists
You want to track theatrical, digital, and physical release dates for upcoming films
You need simple one-file-per-title library management

Choose Both If…

You watch both TV shows and movies (this is most people)
You want a complete automated media pipeline
You are building a full *arr stack with Prowlarr, Bazarr, and a download client

Running Both Together

Most users run Sonarr and Radarr side by side as part of the *arr stack. Here is a combined Docker Compose that includes both, plus Prowlarr for centralized indexer management and qBittorrent as the download client:

services:
  sonarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:4.0.16
    container_name: sonarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - sonarr_config:/config
      - /data/media/tv:/tv
      - /data/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "8989:8989"
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--quiet", "--tries=1", "--spider", "http://localhost:8989/ping"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s

  radarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:5.22.4
    container_name: radarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - radarr_config:/config
      - /data/media/movies:/movies
      - /data/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "7878:7878"
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "wget", "--quiet", "--tries=1", "--spider", "http://localhost:7878/ping"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s

  prowlarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/prowlarr:1.31.2
    container_name: prowlarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - prowlarr_config:/config
    ports:
      - "9696:9696"
    restart: unless-stopped

  qbittorrent:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/qbittorrent:5.0.4
    container_name: qbittorrent
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - WEBUI_PORT=8080
    volumes:
      - qbittorrent_config:/config
      - /data/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"    # Web UI
      - "6881:6881"    # BitTorrent traffic
      - "6881:6881/udp"
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  sonarr_config:
  radarr_config:
  prowlarr_config:
  qbittorrent_config:

Key points for running both together:

Shared downloads directory. Both Sonarr and Radarr point to the same /data/downloads path so they can see completed downloads from the shared download client.
Separate media directories. TV shows go to /data/media/tv, movies go to /data/media/movies. Keep them separate for clean library organization.
Prowlarr as the indexer hub. Configure your indexers once in Prowlarr, and it syncs them to both Sonarr and Radarr automatically. No duplicate indexer configuration.
Single download client. Both tools send downloads to the same qBittorrent instance. They tag downloads with their app name so there are no conflicts.
Add Bazarr for subtitles. Bazarr integrates with both Sonarr and Radarr to automatically download subtitles for your media.
Feed into Jellyfin or Plex. Point your media server at /data/media/ and it picks up both TV shows and movies. Both Sonarr and Radarr can send notifications to your media server when new content is imported.

Final Verdict

Sonarr and Radarr are not an either/or decision. They solve different problems (TV shows vs movies) using the same approach (automated monitoring, searching, downloading, and organizing). Radarr exists because Sonarr’s developers built such a good system for TV automation that someone forked it to do the same for movies.

If you watch TV shows, install Sonarr. If you watch movies, install Radarr. If you watch both — and most people do — install both. They run side by side with minimal resource overhead, share the same download client and indexer infrastructure via Prowlarr, and together give you a fully automated media pipeline.

The real power of both tools is the *arr ecosystem they belong to. Add Prowlarr for indexer management, Bazarr for subtitles, qBittorrent for downloads, and Jellyfin for playback. That stack replaces every streaming subscription with a self-hosted media system you fully control.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Radarr just Sonarr for movies?

Essentially, yes. Radarr started as a fork of Sonarr in 2017, adapted for movies instead of TV series. The UI, concepts (quality profiles, indexers, download clients), and workflow are nearly identical. The differences are in how they track media — Sonarr handles series/season/episode hierarchies while Radarr handles individual movie files.

Can I run Sonarr and Radarr on the same server?

Yes, and this is the standard setup. They use different ports (8989 and 7878), different config volumes, and different media directories. They share a download client and indexers without conflict. Combined, they use around 200-300 MB of RAM idle.

Do I need Prowlarr if I have both Sonarr and Radarr?

You do not strictly need it, but you strongly should use it. Without Prowlarr, you have to configure every indexer separately in both Sonarr and Radarr. With Prowlarr, you configure indexers once and it syncs them to all connected *arr apps. This also makes adding or removing indexers much simpler.

What about Lidarr and Readarr?

The *arr family extends beyond TV and movies. Lidarr handles music (same concept, forked from Sonarr). Readarr handles books and audiobooks. All of them share the same UI paradigm and integrate with Prowlarr and the same download clients.

Does Radarr handle TV shows or Sonarr handle movies?

No. Each tool is purpose-built for one media type. Sonarr cannot manage movies and Radarr cannot manage TV shows. This is by design — the monitoring, searching, and organization logic is fundamentally different for episodic content versus standalone films.

Quick Verdict

Overview

Feature Comparison

Installation Complexity

Performance and Resource Usage

Community and Support

Use Cases

Choose Sonarr If…

Choose Radarr If…

Choose Both If…

Running Both Together

Final Verdict

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Radarr just Sonarr for movies?

Can I run Sonarr and Radarr on the same server?

Do I need Prowlarr if I have both Sonarr and Radarr?

What about Lidarr and Readarr?

Does Radarr handle TV shows or Sonarr handle movies?

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